Pulling On The Lead

Training & Behaviour
Pulling On The Lead

My greyhound pulls terribly on the lead. It makes taking him for a walk a real chore!

Many dogs are very excited to leave on their daily walk. In the rush to get to the park they often learn to pull on the lead. Unfortunately we tend to actually reinforce this behaviour – the dog pulls and we follow along, and the end result is the dog learns it can get to the park faster if it pulls.

Most greyhounds are taught to walk on the leash as part of their race career training, but some younger dogs, or those that have never raced, may not have had a lot of training in this area. Others have only ever associated the leash with the excitement of racing, so their trained response is one of excitement and anticipation.

Apart from the obvious discomfort to our arms, there is also the risk that the dog will pull us over. For the dog, there are also physical consequences. For dogs wearing collars that tighten or choke, the consequence of constant pulling can be restriction of air intake, and restriction of blood flow to the entire head. Some dogs have even been shown to sustain damage to the sensitive retina in the eye due to sudden increases to blood pressure as the collar goes tight.

So how can I make the dog stop pulling?

Teaching the dog to walk on a loose leash is not an easy task. It takes time, patience, and most of all – consistency. The dog must learn that pulling will get it nowhere, and a loose leash will result in progress. By the time most people decide to train loose leash walking, their dog has been pulling for months or years. This means the pulling behaviour has been rewarded for a long time, and therefore the dog will think this is the correct response. It takes a while to fade this behaviour from the dog’s repertoire.

The idea is to teach the dog that the consequence of pulling is that the walk will stop. Therefore every time the leash goes tight, you will have to stop any forward progress and stand still. If you have a large dog, you might have to brace yourself a little as you stop. You can then work on encouraging your dog to move so that the lead loosens before heading off again.

Another option is to stop moving forward as the lead goes tight, but instead of standing still, walk off in another direction. You might turn around and go back the way you came, or you might just head off in another direction. If the dog races in front and starts to pull, you change direction again.

As you can imagine, both of these methods will mean you spend quite a bit of your walk stopped, or not moving forward, and you might not get very far on each walk. As your dog will still need a normal amount of exercise, so you might have to think of alternate ways to burn off some steam whilst you concentrate on teaching the dog the loose leash walking. Sometimes it is a good idea to burn off some steam before you start your walk so the dog is not quite as energetic as you try to concentrate on the loose leash.

It is also important that everyone who walks the dog follows the same steps. If you are working hard on the loose leash walking and then another family member takes the dog for a walk and lets it pull all the way to the park, you will find that you will make very little progress, and the dog will be confused as to what is correct. Every person walking the dog must do the same thing, and it must also happen on every walk. If you are too busy to spend time working on keeping the leash loose, don’t just let the dog pull again, maybe exercise the dog by throwing a toy in the backyard instead.

Is there equipment that can help reduce the pulling?

There are now many different pieces of equipment that are designed to help give owners a physical advantage. There are special harnesses designed to reduce pulling, and many different head collars that will help.  Head collars fit over the head and nose of the dog, similar to a halter for a horse. They give the owner a way of controlling the head of the dog, which is helpful if your dog tends to be reactive in certain situations – maybe he really gets excited when people ride past on bikes, or when he sees a cat, small animals or other dogs.

Both harnesses and head collars have a mechanical effect, but the benefits of these will soon be lost if you just continue to let the dog pull. The idea is to stop walking as the lead goes tight, and let the equipment do its job. The lead is held steady, it is not jerked or pulled, and once the lead is loose, you can again move forward.  Most people find that they have the best success in the shortest time by combining the training with the added assistance of the equipment.

Although there are many brands of head collar, greyhounds do quite well in the Halti brand ones as they tend to fit breeds of dogs with longer noses really well. The sizing on the packet of the Halti is a little misleading, and you usually need to buy a size or two smaller than you would expect – sometimes taking the dog with you to the shop, or having the head collar fitted by someone who understands how they should fit is the best way to make sure you get the right size.

Generally head collars need to be fitted so that the strap that goes around the back of the dog’s neck is quite firm. Because it sits high on the neck, it does not need to allow any space underneath – unlike fitting a collar. The leash attaches under the jaw of the greyhound, and many people choose to have the Halti ‘safety strap’ or a ‘connector’ fitted to the dog’s normal collar, in case the dog gets the Halti off.

If you are not sure about fitting or using a head-collar it is best to ask someone knowledgeable to show you how it is done. If you have trained dogs before using a choke or correction collar, you will need to be careful that you don’t jerk on the leash that is attached to the head collar in the same way or you may do damage to your greyhound’s neck. Instead, think of the head collar as ‘power steering’ with the act of you standing still and holding the leash steady having the desired effect.

Because sudden jerking on the leash will have the effect of turning the dog’s head too quickly, it is also advisable not to allow the greyhound to run on a long line which is attached to a head collar. This is simply because they can do serious damage if they race off at speed and hit the end of the line suddenly. It is safer to attach a long line to a flat collar.

Meet our dogs ready for adoption

All greyhounds adopted from GAP are de-sexed, vaccinated, microchipped, wormed and health checked.

Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Name

0 Years Old

Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla.

Learn more
Available

Bellatrix

3 years old

Bellatrix is a sweet, playful, and outgoing girl with a big personality and even bigger zoomies. She is affectionate, confident and full of puppy-like enthusiasm. Bellatrix may suit a home with medium/large dogs and kids 10 and older. This spunky girl does require a backyard. If your after a social butterfly with plenty of spark, Bellatrix is your girl! Bellatrix has Third eyelid blepharitis (TEB) which is an immune-mediated disease of the third eyelids. It appears as red third eyelids
Learn more
Available

Xinji ARP

3 years old

No items found.

Xinji (pronounced Shin-jee) is a lovely young girl who has a world of love to give you. She can be a bit of a worrier and can be shy when she first meets you, but with a little bit of time and patience, we know she will blossom into a wonderful companion. She walks well on the lead and will be looking for a quiet household to settle into. She may be happy living with or without another canine companion of any size, though she would prefer having access to a backyard. She may also suit full time workers and living with children aged in their teens.

Learn more
Available

Bing ARP

3 years old

Learn more
Available

Hermione

5 years old

Meet Hermione! She can be a little timid and shy to begin with but if you go slow and give her little scratches under her collar and neck area she will come out of her shell and move towards you to ask for more pats. Once her true colours come out, she enjoys playing with toys. Hermione may suit living with or without a canine pal of similar size and children aged 10 years and older.
Learn more
Available

Jett

4 years old

This boy is ready to Jett his way into your heart and onto your couch! Sweet Jett is an incredibly friendly and outgoing boy with a puppy like nature and loves nothing more than a cuddle and play! Due to his excitement towards life Jett would be best in a home with a family who is experienced with large breed dogs! He may suit a home with another medium or large canine companion who likes to play as much as he does. He may be best suited to a home with children 10+ who can also keep up with him!
Learn more
Available

Coco ARP

4 years old

Meet the lovely big boy, Coco. Even though he is big, he is a very polite, gentle, sensible boy who is affectionate and loves a pat and wants to please his person. If you love taking long drives in your car, well Coco will be your sidekick for the ride, as he loves to travel in the car and would spend all day in there if you’d let him. Coco may suit living with or without a medium or large canine pal and children aged 10 years and older.

Learn more
Available

Sally ARP

2 years old

Sweet, happy, affectionate and super friendly are all things that make up Sally! She is a happy-go-lucky pup that just LOVES people. She has experience in a home and loves her treats. We think she may suit living with or without another male dog of any size and children 5 and over.

Learn more
Available

Rose ARP

5 years old

Meet Rose, a 5-year-old lady with a heart of gold. Formerly known as Lady Rosina Hook on the racetrack, she's traded in her racing shoes for a life of leisure and love. This sweet and friendly girl is a people person, thriving on attention and interaction. Though she can be cautious and anxious at times, Rose is always willing to try, making her a lovable companion. With her personable nature, she'll charm her way into your heart. And with her great social skills, Rose gets along swimmingly with dogs of all sizes - she's a true lady! She may do best in a home with older children aged 10 years+.

Learn more
Available

Freddie ARP

4 years old

Meet Freddie, a sleek black 4 year old boy. His race name is "Transponder" but let's call him "Signal Strong" because he's always transmitting love and affection to those around him. This friendly and outgoing guy is always on the same wavelength as his humans, craving attention and connection. With a puppyish playfulness and a dash of submissiveness, Freddie is a team player who'll fit right in with any pack. Tune in to Freddie's frequency and discover a loyal companion who'll be by your side through thick and thin! Freddie may suit living with or without a canine companion of similar size and children aged as young as 5 years old.

Learn more
Available

Stumpy ARP

1 years old

Meet Stumpy, the adorable 21-month-old greyhound who's as sweet as can be! This little gem was born without a tail, making her one-of-a-kind. With her youthful energy and puppy-like charm, Stumpy is a bundle of joy. Despite being tiny in size, her personality is larger than life - friendly, personable, and always eager to please. Stumpy can get a bit anxious, but she's always willing to try, making her a lovable companion. Get ready for a lifetime of snuggles and smiles with this pretty little greyhound! Stumpy may suit living with or without a canine friend of any size and children aged 10 years and older.

Learn more